Apple of My Eye
by Dwelling on the Negatives
Summary: Chapter 5: The Ice Climbers and Ganondorf successfully manage to remove Ness' corpse into the Frost Room. The next day, Lucairo volunteers his service to Master Hand for something which would bring him great burden later on.
1. The Apple

"Why the hell do we have to get out in this freakin' cold?!" Yoshi screamed at Lucairo as he struggled to keep up with him. The snow was five feet deep, and Yoshi kept lifting his foot out repeatedly in order to travel any distance. Lucairo, being Lucairo, could nimbly walk on top of the snow and had already put quite a distance between him and Yoshi.

'Silence, you silly dinosaur,' Lucairo's voice rang in Yoshi's mind, indicating that he was using telepathy to communicate. 'We were sent here to do shopping for Peach. Besides, I thought your skin could adapt to the surrounding temperatures easily.'

"Today was too sudden; Peach just threw me out the window! Why can't you just talk? We have mouths for a reason you know! And why doesn't Peach come and get her things herself?"

'I do not use my mouth as I have other uses for it. Besides, you would not understand the way I speak. As for why Peach didn't come out herself, she is too busy cooking us the food for our dinner… we just happened to run out of one or two of the ingredients.'

"Why can't we take a car?!"

Lucairo whipped around and glared at Yoshi, finally losing his temper. 'Hello?! The last time you took Wario's motorcycle, your tongue got stuck it one of the engines, resulting in Wario fly out, do three somersaults in the air and demolish the left wing of the Smash Mansion! The other time when you and Kirby took a ride on Fox's Arwing, you accidently veered it so fast that Kirby flew out the window, and then you crashed into the bathroom where Samus was showering! Do you think they would allow you to ride any form of vehicle?!'

Yoshi looked up sheepishly at Lucairo. "Hey, nobody's perfect."

'Shut your whining mouth then. It makes you far from perfect.'

The rest of the journey continued in silence, expect for the occasional grunting of Yoshi as he lifted out his foot from the snow with each step he took.

Finally, they arrived at a shopping mall located in the middle of the city. It was bustling with patrons as Yoshi and Lucairo got into the parking lot.

"Finally!" Yoshi shouted as he shook snow off his boots. The snow had mostly been cleared from the parking lot, but now it was packed with cars instead. Still, it was easier to travel through the sea of cars rather than the sea of snow.

'Come. We must hurry.' Lucairo quickly shifted in and out of the crowd, barely bumping into people, while Yoshi knocked against them continuously.

At last, they reached the sliding doors of the shopping mall. The heat warmed up Yoshi, who let out a sigh and could have fallen to the floor. He almost did, but he was dragged back up by Lucairo.

'Come on! We don't have all day.' Lucairo wasted no time and went about searching for the items on Peach's shopping list, while Yoshi trudged after him reluctantly.

"Tell you what," Yoshi brought up as Lucairo checked the expiring date of a can of tuna. "Why don't I go to McDonalds and buy myself a little something there, while you stay here and continue shopping."

'Let you have fun while I suffer? No way.'

But by then it was too late. Yoshi had already run off, laughing as he dodged people and made his way to the chain of restaurants.

When he made sure he was out of sight, he shook his head and said to himself, "That Lucairo expects too much from me. I can never shop for a full day. There's too much of torture in it."

Most of the stores here were colorful and vibrant, with serene music playing and the chatting of people filling the air. Maybe that was why Yoshi didn't miss the store at the corner.

At first, he didn't pay attention to it; it was simply something in the corner of his eyes. But as he neared the store, however, it disturbed him that a quiet place could exist in such a noisy place, and he turned his gaze towards it.

No wonder he noticed it. It was a dark, shabby corner with absolutely no one inside, besides a dark figure behind a counter. It was eerie, because, well, it was just so different. It seemed as if the owner of the place didn't even seem to find the bother to redecorate it to attract more customers – or at least let the mall owner tear it down.

Curious, Yoshi neared the store carefully, as if something inside would explode. The other people who had bumped and glared reproachfully at him when he ran into them were now rushing past – as if both the store and he did not exist.

Yoshi shivered as he pushed the scratched door open, torn in different places and making a high squeaking noise. The air was dusty and everything inside was dark. Cobwebs hung from the shelves, the ceiling, and various other objects as Yoshi examined his surroundings.

The store seemed to sell antiques. The shelves were laden with cracked plates and vases on one side, and yet another one held framed certificates and documents, which were hand-written on yellow parchment. On the display shelf there were items of various sizes and shapes, such as a metal weighing scale, an ancient computer modem, and a club from the primitive times. In the corner of the store was an ancient piano, and there was also a box which contained stacks of newspapers dating way back to the far past. The boards of the floor creaked everytime Yoshi took a step, examining the shelves in awe of as he took in every detail of the old, yet strangely beautiful items.

One particular shelf caught his attention, and he turned towards it. He realized the reason why it was so eye-catching. Most of the items here didn't have their colors visible due to the lack of light, but on this particular shelf, there was a glowing, red object bigger than Yoshi's fist. It really did glow, letting off some light amidst the dark surroundings. Filled with burning curiosity, Yoshi tiptoed to get at it. He wrapped his palms around the object, and brought it down.

It was an apple. It had a bumpy bottom, and the skin was smooth to the touch as Yoshi examined it. It still had little bit of stalk attached to it. He held it up to his face and felt its beauty wash over him. A simple, everyday, yet beautiful object. It felt good to hold it.

But when Yoshi looked at it without anything else distracting him, a faint image started appearing on the surface of the apple. Yoshi peered carefully at it, trying to make out its features. As the image became more vivid, Yoshi realized with a gasp that it was a black skull, drifting in and out of sight. Yoshi stared straight into its empty sockets, and an uncomfortable feeling arose in him. The apple's beauty concealed immense evil inside it.

A sudden force brought Yoshi's arm closer to his mouth, and Yoshi itched to retch his mouth open and close it around the smooth apple, to feel his teeth biting into the crunchy skin and tasting the sweet-sour juice as he rolled it around with his tongue and finally swallowing it with a single gulp-

Yoshi cried out and tore his arm away, and let go of the apple. Breathing heavily, he stared at the apple rolling around for a while, then come to a rest near a pile of dust. The image of the evil skull was gone. There was nothing, absolutely nothing, on it as it continued to glow.

Tentatively, Yoshi rolled it up with his tail and caught it in the air. The apple was strange, and felt like it possessed some sort of great energy inside. Like how it made Yoshi fall to its command for a short while, commanding him to eat it-

But for what? Why did the apple want to be so badly eaten, when all that would cause was to delete its existence from the world?

'That's what I have to find out,' thought Yoshi, as he tightened his grip on the apple. 'I have to find out what this apple wants, and its capabilities.' Yoshi nodded to convince himself. There had barely been any form of adventure in the Smash Mansion nowadays, and what better way to start with an apple which seemed to have a mind of its own?

Now Yoshi was starting to get excited. As long as he didn't succumb to its power, everything would be fine.

He was just about to swallow it, like what he did to store items - when he remembered that was exactly what the evil apple wanted. Heart pounding because he almost had done what the apple had wanted him to do, he placed it under his saddle, and was just about to walk out when he realized he forgot to pay for the apple.

Uncertainly, he approached the counter. The dark figure behind it took the appearance of a man, and seemed to be wearing a dark coat with a hood that covered his face. From the moment Yoshi had entered the store to now, he had not moved a single inch, almost as if he was in a deep sleep where nothing else could bother him.

Except that when you sleep, you still breathe.

Not a sound of breath came from the man as he continued to sit there, lying against the wall. "Hello?" he asked in a small voice, timid of what was going on. The man didn't respond, didn't even twitch. Almost as if he was-

Yoshi couldn't bring himself to think of the word. Silently praying that the man would hear him this time, he asked, "How much is this apple?"

No reply.

Yoshi held his breath and, with the tip of his fingers, gripped the top of the hood. No movement. Closing his eyes, he flung the hood down.

He almost expected a hand to shoot up and grab his arm. It didn't happen, but the expectation of the action was so strong that he jumped.

He let go of the hood and withdrew his hand back slowly. He was thinking about opening his eyes, his mind screamed at him to open his eyes - but what would he see? Red eyes with slit pupils glaring back at him, mouth wide open to reveal yellow fangs, a scarred face missing a chunk of a cheek?

There was only one way to find out.

Yoshi let out the breath he had held inside - and opened his eyes.

They widened, and his mouth dropped open to let out a scream, a bloodcurling scream which filled the whole room and blew the dusts off the shelves.

Yoshi stuffed his knuckle into his mouth, stifling the scream, and ran out, almost dropping the apple. As he did, he kicked up some wind - very slight wind, but wind nevertheless - and it was enough to knock off something very weak and ancient.

A skull dropped off from the top of the figure and hit the ground where Yoshi had been standing moments before.


	2. Beginning the Day

Yoshi flung the door open and jumped out. Gripping the door by its knob, he slammed it shut, and threw himself against it, breathing heavily.

He closed his eyes and sat there for awhile, feeling the apple rubbing against his back. What he had just seen was fresh in his mind: The skull, hanging from a brittle neck bone, dangling sideways. The dark, empty sockets staring blankly at him. Two holes where the nose had been, and a grinning mouth with two sets of crooked, decomposing teeth.

He shook his head to get rid of the image. Then opened his eyes again. People were walking about, busy with their shopping and paying no attention to the dinosaur who had just scampered out of a mysterious, dark room, with a panicked expression etched on his face as he did.

Somehow, it felt good to see the crowd again. It didn't make him feel lonely as he had been inside the pitch-black antique store with the dead body inside.

Yoshi slowly got up to his feet and, dreading what he was going to see, peered into the window. The figure behind the counter now had a head missing, and in its place was a broken neck bone. Yoshi flinched, but forced himself to continue looking.

His eyes shifted to the dusty floor, and he found it: The cracked skull, rolling around on its side, and finally coming to a halt next to a broken shelf. The front part of it was facing Yoshi, its sockets boring into his eyes…

Yoshi tore his eyes from the window. Gasping, he walked away, finally done observing the decapitated body.

He walked into the crowd and was soon a part of them, merely another patron in the huge shopping mall. He felt his feet shuffle along on its own while his mind was in a faraway place, trapped in a thought where glowing apples and dropping skulls dominated the place.

Uncertainly, Yoshi reached into his saddle and withdrew the glowing apple, making sure not to stare too deeply into it so as not to summon the illusion skull again. It continued letting off a red aura even in the cheerful lights of the mall.

The people near him stopped, taking notice of it. Their conversations were extinguished as they gazed into the wondrous apple with some sort of trance. Yoshi saw this and realized that, if he didn't do anything soon, the skull would appear again and force them to come closer, screaming at them to eat the red bubble of juice and sugar in his hands...

Quickly, Yoshi rolled the apple back under his saddle. The people blinked, closed their mouths, and shook their heads, before slowly continuing with their shopping again. Breathing a sigh of relief, Yoshi turned around-

And walked smacked into Lucairo. Immediately, Lucairo gripped his fingers on Yoshi's throat like a vice, and lifted him into the air.

'You lazy idiot! Where were you the entire time while I was doing all the shopping?'

Yoshi only succeeded in making choking noises, so Lucairo eased his grip and lowered him onto the ground.

"Like – like I said," Yoshi sputtered as he started taking in deep breaths, "At McDonalds."

Lucairo bent over and sniffed the air Yoshi was breathing out, and then straightened up. 'Oh, really? You don't have a hint of hamburger, meat, or Coke in your breath.'

"Um… I, uh, drank a cup of water?"

'Don't LIE!' Lucairo's voice rang in Yoshi's mind as he slapped him down onto the ground. People once again stopped in their tracks, but this time to watch the strangely dog-like Pokemon scold a cute, green dinosaur.

Lucairo dropped the bags of food on to the floor, and Yoshi heard a several cracks as the eggs on the bottom of the bag broke from the force of hitting the ground. 'So, you run away – without my permission – and go to some relaxing fast food restaurant and make a fool of yourself, where you don't buy anything, not even for ME?" The last word was a roar which could almost be heard outside, not only in Yoshi's mind.

Yoshi gulped and was about to say something when he suddenly focused his gaze on Lucairo's chest.

His eyes widened as Lucairo detected something wrong with himself.

'Wha – what?' Lucairo asked in an uncertain voice.

A panicked expression formed on Yoshi's face as he pointed to his chest. "There's something on…"

Without a thought, Lucairo looked down. 'What?' he asked, this time more desperately.

All of a sudden, Yoshi jumped onto his hands and sprung his feet high into the air, kicking Lucairo's muzzle as he did. Lucairo swore as he was knocked back a bit, and Yoshi immediately got back up and ran away, laughing as he pushed through the crowd.

"Race you back!" he voice rang through the mall as the shoppers giggled at the sudden turn of events. Grumbling in embarrassment, Lucairo got back up and picked up the three shopping bags in his hands, one of them soiled with yolk, and walked slowly to the exit. Having already purchased the items, he left the comforting heat of the mall and sighed as he looked at the snowy hill leading back to the Smash Mansion, and Yoshi leaping instead of walking, so he could travel more distance at a faster time.

With the thought of a murdered Yoshi in his mind, Lucairo trudged slowly up the stairs. It was going to be a long way back.

0o0o0o0o

"I'm home!" Yoshi screamed as he kicked the door open so hard it almost tore off its hinges. Ness, who was standing behind the door looking for something he dropped, was immediately crushed.

"Ahhhh!" Ness' muffled scream of pain was heard and Yoshi, realizing what happened, brought the door back a bit.

"Ooops, sorry Ness, didn't know you were there!" Yoshi grinned apologetically as he helped him up to his feet. Moaning in pain, Ness glared back.

"You're here, but where's Lucairo?" Ness muttered, trying to ignore the pain screaming at him in every part of his body.

"Oh, he's still shopping," Yoshi said, winking at Ness. Ness understood and grinned, punching him playfully as he commented, "You never really did do any work around here."

Yoshi shrugged. "What can I say? Peach chose the wrong Smasher for the job. Which reminds me… I have to ignore both her and Lucairo. Be careful of wearing anything green. They'll kill it and stomp it to the ground before you can say your name. Now excuse me while go and spend countless hours in the bath with warm water."

"Remember to lock the door," Ness grinned as he went back in searching for his lost item.

Yoshi ran through the corridors of the mansion. It was still a bit early, so most of the Smashers were still asleep. Good thing too, because now the bathroom was free for his use and they wouldn't be complaining of hunger.

Yoshi stopped by the dining room and, after seeing no hint of Peach around, walked inside and slowly took out the apple from his saddle. This time, he didn't lose himself over it, but instead opened the fridge door immediately and threw it in. Then, thinking that it would be too easily seen by the others, he pushed it behind some stacked containers. Still not satisfied, he threw a plastic bag full of chocolates over it and finally put a milk carton in front of the whole mess.

"Done!" Yoshi cried happily and turned around, to see Peach looking back at him.

"What's done?" she asked, and then narrowed her eyes. "Where are the things I asked you to get?"

"Um… well, Lucairo's got them," Yoshi said nervously as he inched his way to the doorway.

Peach's temper started to flare. "And where, may I ask, is Lucairo?"

"See, that's what you can't ask," Yoshi said. Peach approached menacingly with her parasol. Yoshi nervously looked down at the sharp metal point just inches from his bare chest.

"Er... Let's not get violent here," Yoshi muttered anxiously. The spike jabbed with a bit of force into Yoshi, and a stab of pain rang through his chest as Peach brought her parasol back, ready to slash him.

"I woke at five am, fell down three flights of stairs, rammed into a wall just to prepare a hearty breakfast for all thirty-five of you in this bloody mansion, and all you can say is that LUCAIRO HAS IT?!" Peach screamed. She swung the parasol forward, but Yoshi ducked his head and flutter jumped over a table. He dashed towards the door and bolted towards the bathroom, panting as he did. Behind him, Peach's voice rang in the corridor. "I'll get you, Yoshi, and when I do, I'll skin you alive and turn your scales into a rug! You hear me? A rug! And everyone will rub their dirty boots against you everyday, until it's torn to itsy bitsy pieces and-"

Peach's voice was cut short when Yoshi darted into the laboratory and slammed the door shut before bolting it. He was panting almost as deeply as he had done when he had rushed out of the antique store. Turning up the water heater, he muttered himself, "Man, that Peach has got to learn to chill in the morning. Honestly, I'm surprised she hasn't killed someone yet."

Shaking his head, Yoshi got into the bath and started relaxing as hot water gushed out of the tap.

0o0o0o0o

"That Yoshi makes me so MAD!" Peach screamed as she slammed her fist down onto the wooden table, almost breaking it in two.

'Please Peach. Not so hard.' She heard a calm voice inside her mind, and she turned around to see Lucairo holding three shopping bags which he set on the table.

"He's too lazy and does nothing around here!" Peach retorted as she dug her hands into the bag, taking out the numerous ingredients and setting them on the table. "He doesn't help when you ask him to; he doesn't bother doing any work around the mansion; and-"

Peach stopped abruptly as she withdrew her hands from the plastic bag, her hangs dripping wet with thick liquid.

Lucairo glanced at her nervously as she shook her hand and tiny droplets of egg whites flicked onto the floor. She stared at Lucairo with sharp, penetrating eyes, and Lucairo stammered, 'Yeah… about that. I, um… well, sorry, but I had to punish Yoshi for running away, and, um…'

Peach looked sympathetic as she sighed and picked up a butcher knife. "I have only one thing to say, Lucairo," she said while peeling off the wrap of a styrofoam container of meat.

Lucairo waited hopefully, because Peach sounded as if she would go easy on him.

"DIE!!!!!!!" With sudden brute force, Peach hurled the butcher knife blade first towards Lucairo's face. It cut the tip of his fur at the right side of his face as he yelped and bolted out of the kitchen. The knife lodged into the wall behind him as Peach screamed, "You can run but you can't HIDE!!!"

Lucairo continued running towards the right wing of the mansion, where all the rooms were. Once he reached the lighted corridors, he searched for the room he shared with the other Pokemons. Quick as a flash, he flung the door to the Pokemon room open and, after securely locking the door, thrust himself onto the bed. He panted heavily, exhausted from the long run.

"Pika pika!" Pikachu greeted as he jumped onto Lucairo's bed. Lucairo flicked his ears to Pikachu's direction without turning his head.

"Pika pika pi?" Pikachu inquired.

'Yes, Pikachu. As usual, Peach got up on the wrong side of the bed today.' Lucairo let out a sigh as he stared up at the ceiling. 'I don't get it! She's so nice and sweet like a flower when we all wake up, but in the morning, she acts as if we're juvenile delinquents! It's appalling! If it isn't for that coffee Kirby makes everyday, we'll probably all be dead by now.'

"Pika pika."

'Yes, and we'll all be raped too, though luckily she has Mario for that.' Lucairo got up and Pikachu bounded over to him, ball in mouth. 'Go away,' Lucairo said lazily. 'Play with Pokemon Trainer, why don't you.'

Pikachu looked at the lump under the blanket on the upper part of one of the bunk beds, and Pikachu shook his head. "Pika!"

'Well, I know he's still sleeping. You'll just have to wake him up.' Lucairo made his way out to the hallway and proceeded to start the day with a quick douse of water in the face. Though, the day had already begun lousily with a ruined shopping trip.

Meanwhile, Yoshi had just finished bathing, and he jumped out of the tub, sighing to his heart's content as the heat of the warm water washed off him. Lively and active by the rejuvenating heat, he bounded down the steps while humming a lullaby.

"Get up!" he sang as he opened the door to the Hyrule dormitory. Link groaned while Zelda threw the cover over her face, surprised by the sudden, unexpected commotion. Yoshi was the late type: Sleeping all the way to the afternoon before he had his 'breakfast'. So hearing Yoshi's voice in the morning was as rare as seeing Peach without her makeup.

"Shut up, you goddamned freak!" roared Ganondorf as he Warlock punched the air in what he thought was Yoshi. Toon Link continued sleeping away while Zelda got up, rubbing her eyes. "What time is it?" she asked sleepily, stifling a yawn just about to escape her mouth.

"Dunno, don't care," he replied, and ran off to wake the others.

Link grumbled as he got up, his hair tangled into a mess as he stared at a wall. Ganondorf failed to go back to sleep, and instead shouted sadistically to himself. "When I catch that fucking dinosaur, I'm going to stomp his head until eyeballs pop and then I'll stretch him into pasta noodles and I'll serve him for dinner with his blood as the tomato sauce!"

Zelda sighed. She had long begged Master Hand to let her and Link have a room to themselves without Ganondorf. Toon Link was tolerable, but often got too involved in their love life. Master Hand had flat out refused, telling her that it wasn't fair because all the other Smashers were going with the system of sleeping with their respective 'game' mates, and if he let Zelda and Link have a room of their own, pretty soon the other Smashers would want their own rooms as well. And after waving himself, he had dismissed her

Ganondorf always tried to ruin the fun out of everything. Almost all the time he broke in when Zelda and Link were kissing (even a peck on the cheek could not pass privately), and when he did catch them he would always sneer and comment, "Ah! So our two little love birds here are getting ready to build a nest, I see!"

Zelda hated it when he did that.

Plus, the dark warlock was always there when Link and Zelda just wanted to spend some time on the bed – _alone_. At least with Toon Link he would understand and leave the room; with Ganondorf it was like living with an anteater in anthill paradise.

Truth was, they were still enemies against each other, even if they were sharing the same dorm. Living in the same mansion wasn't going to change the many hard-fought battles over the years and the painstaking memories of the past. The only thing that kept them from killing each other was the number one Smash Mansion Rule: Thou shalt not murder. And added below it in red ink and a messy scrawl, presumably written by Master Hand, was 'Love Your Enemies!'

Which didn't change anything. Zelda could never bring herself to love the evil, dirty roommate whom she loathed. She imagined Ganondorf with a big smile, large buck teeth and wide, sparkly eyes hugging her everyday. She shuddered at the image.

She wore her bunny slippers and shuffled out of the room, letting Ganondorf continue with his rambling. It was time to start the day, which would seem to be like any dull and boring day the Smashers had ever encountered.

…Until midnight.


	3. The Demon Unleashed

It was eleven fifty, judging by Lucas' watch.

PM. Way past his bed time, and there he was, lying wide awake.

And he was hungry, too. His stomach growled for him to get some food, any food, inside the vacant organ. Lucas closed his eyes tightly and curled into a ball. Great. He knew he should have eaten more than a single meatball for dinner. But he had been too sleepy, and had instead retreated to his bed where he fell asleep immediately.

But five hours and fifty minutes later, Lucas had woken up from a burning hunger inside him. He tried to quell it by drinking a glass of water next to his bed, but his stomach wanted more. If anything, it made it worse. It wanted something to digest, not some tasteless liquid which passed through his system smoothly.

Of course, he could just get up, walk to the kitchen, and find something to eat. It wasn't such a long way there, and there were plenty of food inside. But he was afraid of the dark. He always slept with a night light, which greatly annoyed Ness. The corridors were pitch-black with no sources of light to show the way. There were times when he woke up as early as pre-dawn and had to go to the toilet, but he always tried to keep it inside and go back to sleep, or he woke up Ness to follow him there, which annoyed him as well. That was why Lucas always kept a glass of water by his side: If he was thirsty, he could just drink that instead of going to the kitchen through the scary corridor.

But he wasn't thirsty right now. He was hungry.

There was a slash of pain in his stomach all of a sudden, and Lucas started groaning. Unknown to him, the digestive juices, with no food to break down, were instead digesting his stomach walls. He retched and a felt bitter, stinging liquid rise up to his mouth. Breathing heavily, he was faced with a thought forced rudely in front of his mind: Was he going to let a silly fear of monsters prevent him from getting something to eat, or was he going to risk stomach ulcers by just staying in the 'safety' of his bed?

The answer was clear. Wobbly, he got up and made his way to the door.

0o0o0o

_The demon is gripped tightly by a smooth and warm pair of hands, and feels the holder watch him intently, absorbing the beautiful sight of the light he is emitting. He feels that the hands belong to someone different than the one who had taken him out of the dark and comforting room and stuffed him inside the strangely cold place with no snow. Which means that the person who was gripping him now was not aware of what he could do._

_The demon sees his chance and quickly sends out the waves of temptations, compelling the mind to eat the apple he is trapped him. To his delight, he finds that he is lifted higher into the air and brought towards a wide, dark hole with those small white stones sticking out from the pink ground and ceiling. Excited, he sends out even more waves, screaming, screaming, and screaming for him to be eaten._

_The holder hesitates for a moment, before stuffing part of the apple in its mouth and chomping into it._

_The person recoils in horror, but the damage is done. For a while, the demon cannot believe what had just happened. After being trapped inside the apple for so long, a part of him was now finally free. He could not feel the pain of losing a part of him, for he his pain receptors had died down a long time ago. He remained still for so long, had he not snapped out his trance just in time, the person would have dropped the apple and his life would have been ruined._

_Instead, he shot out waves, powerful waves, which force the jaws of the person to sink its teeth into the sweet fruit. The demon's pain receptors wake up, and scream at him to stop forcing the person to eat him, but his mind is far more powerful than the pitiful nerves he possesses. The person is crying now; it does not want to eat, but it keeps stuffing the demon up its mouth, chewing it fast before swallowing the ball of saliva encased apple._

_Now a half of the apple is gone, and the demon feels like he is partially in the apple, and partially in the host's mind. Quickly, he wraps himself around the brain, spreading over a large area to control it as much as possible. He finds the part that controls the mouth and hand and makes his host eat the apple as fast as possible._

_The host screams, flailing with what little limbs it can possess. The demon laughs. Oh, how he missed the feeling to be able to hear his hosts scream, scream with helplessness of not being able to control his own body! How he missed being able to have a body for his own, which he could move about in and do whatever he wanted! And how he missed, missed so much, to kill. To kill everyone around him in a grotesque way, seeing blood and gore splatter around him as he killed his victims in sadistic, painful ways. And all the while, the ones who witnessed him would think that it was his host that was doing the murdering. They will always gasp in horror, refusing to believe that their loved one could do such a thing._

_The demon misses all of these, and is about to get what he desires._

_The apple is eaten except for the core. By then there is enough of him inside the host's mind to possess almost the whole brain. But he mustn't be complacent. He stuffed the entire core, stem and all, into his host's mouth and forces it to crunch the core with its teeth. It does not feel good – the seeds are hard, the stem is rubbery, the skin refuses to tear apart. But he keeps crunching, torturing his host as much as possible. What the host felt, the demon could not feel; all he knew was when the host was injured, and when the host was dying. Until then, he could not feel anything the host feels at all._

_One last gulp and he is fully swallowed. The demon laughs, and cannot believe that he is finally in a body. Able to control, to destroy. He grins evilly, and his host grins evilly. He flexes the host's fingers to see what kind of strength it possesses. Not bad. He detected that the host was a fighter. A gentle fighter, but still a fighter._

_He faces the door, wide open to reveal a dark corridor, a corridor leading to many others who live in where the host lives._

_He takes a step forward. His first victim dies tonight._


	4. The First Death

The door creaked open slowly as a silhouette sneaked into the room while holding something sharp in his hand. The only features of the silhouette visible in the room with no light were bright, intense red eyes, shining sharply in the gloom, with an aura of evil shrouding its presence.

Slowly, he climbed up the ladder of the bunk bed, moving ever so slowly to not wake anyone up.

He kneeled down on the end of the bed, where there was a lump under the blanket. He placed a hand on the bed sheet – the hand was more like a claw, with brown, crackling skin and sharp, yellow, curved nails – and brought the blanket back, ever so carefully, so carefully that the sleeper felt nothing but a slight movement upon his chest as the blanket slid away.

Ness snored lightly as he lie on the bed, sleeping in a pose such that his left arm was bent, his right arm was extended over his head, and his legs were straight. His head was resting just above his right shoulder, and a small trickle of saliva ran down his cheek.

He placed his gnarled hand on Ness' arm, and shook him gently.

Ness groaned and rolled the other way, trying to fling his arm away from the grasp. The demon tightened his grip, preventing Ness' arm from moving.

Ness cursed and muttered, "If you're Lucas, then get lost. I am not a good luck charm which wards off all apparent evil and bring you to the toilet just for the sake of emptying your insignificant bladder." With that, Ness lied silently in his sleep; waiting for what he thought was Lucas to go away.

He didn't. Instead, with the strength of a tiger pouncing on its prey, the dark silhouette quickly forced his claw into Ness' chest. It tore through the fabric and ripped into Ness' flesh.  
Ness tore his eyes open, seeing a dark figure upon him, with the hand at his chest.

"What the…" Ness muttered. "Lucas, what the hell do you think you're doing?!"

Then the pain registered. It was so abrupt that Ness simply lied there at first, as the nerves screamed to his mind about what was going on. He stared down at the claw sinking into his flesh, the blood seeping out of the holes made by the finger nails, and then up to the dark figure who was grinning sadistically.

Then, his brain caught up with the present. "Oh my God!" Ness screamed in pain and shock as he kicked the mattress futilely. "Oh my God! What the hell are you doing?!"

Smashers from the other dorms were starting to grumble as Ness's screams continued. The demon immediately took out the sharp, slender object, and rammed it up Ness' screaming mouth. The sharp object tore through Ness' windpipe, broke his bones and ripped out of his flesh, stopping the horrifying screams of a young boy.

Ness could no longer speak, and he stared down at the object rammed up his mouth, eyes wide in disbelief. Pain he had never felt before in his life rang throughout his whole mouth and neck, but he could not scream, scream to express the pain he was suffering and to let the other Smashers know about his predicament. Blood gushed out furiously from both his mouth and neck, staining the mattress with a dark crimson color, filling the room with a heavy metallic smell.

The demon forced the object deeper into his mouth, and death finally caught up with Ness. Unable to breathe, his eyes rolled up into his head, revealing the whites and veins, and just like that, Ness' life was over. A slightly long and painful death involving his mouth, blood loss, and respiratory problems.

The demon heard footsteps rushing towards the Earthbound door. It was too late; they had already heard the screams, and were running over to check what was happening. Heart racing, the demon quickly opened a window by Ness' bed, and after withdrawing the object from his bloody mouth, he leaped out into the cold night sky, floating his way down to the ground.

At that instant, the door to the Earthbound dorm slammed onto the wall, and an even louder scream rang throughout the mansion.

0o0o0o

Zelda continued her screams of terror, horrified by the bloody scene in front of her.

"Whoever could have done this?!" Link shouted furiously. He was standing behind Zelda, and like her was staring into the room. Zelda started weeping, facing away from the gruesome sight in front of her.

Many other Smashers had run over. Sonic, being the fastest, skidded to a halt behind Link and jumped out of the ball he had rolled into, and took a good look into the room.

"Oh, shit," he muttered, and then immediately started to make retching noises.

"What? What the hell happened?" Captain Falcon stepped next to them. Then his jaws dropped, and stood silent as he gaped stupidly at the scene in front of him.

"Ness…" Popo struggled to find words as he took a view of the room between Link and Falcon. Nana ran up to him, and Popo buried his head into his parka, crying uncontrollably from the shock of seeing a dead body. Nana gave a small shriek of terror, but didn't succumb to tears.

Other Smashers ran up to them, asking things like "What's wrong?" and then having the same reactions as the others already there: Looking away, crying or being in a trance. Within ten minutes almost all the Smashers had gathered outside, some pushing their way through to try and see what had happened.

"What's happening?" a late Lucas cried as he ran over to the crowd clustered outside his dorm. His eyes were wide in anxiety, wondering what in the world could have happened such that every single Smasher was there. Whispers and weeping was among them, and Lucas detected immediately that there was something wrong.

Lucairo, who was at the very back of the crowd, turned to him and told him in his mind, 'There has been… been an… an accident with Ness.'

Then Lucairo narrowed his eyes. 'Where were you when Ness was – was… was in trouble?'

Before Lucas could reply, there was a loud, eardrums-bursting roar behind them, a roar that almost shook the whole mansion.

"WHAT IS THIS?!" Master Hand flew through the air, with five sleep hats on each of his fingers, to the pajama-clad Smashers behind the door. "WHY THE HELL DO I HEAR COMMOTIONS IN THE DEAD OF THE NIGHT?!"

Everyone looked uneasily at each other, not finding words how to explain. Master Hand realized that whatever happened was gluing the Smashers' mouth shut, and barked, "Move it! Let me see for myself whatever happened. Come on now! Hurry up!"

The Smashers in a disorganized manner shuffled out of the way for the rude hand. Master Hand immediately floated to the doorway, batting away a tear-stained Toon Link, who couldn't move away fast enough.

Master Hand looked into the room with whatever he used to see. He stared at Ness, who had blood cascading from his mouth and the back of his neck. The blood stained the bed so much that the whole mattress was red, and got to the extent where not a single drop of blood could be absorbed, causing the blood to pour to the ground or the bed below. The open window let in some wind, blowing an arm hanging limp over the side.

For a few seconds, nobody spoke, letting Master Hand take in the horrific sight of the first bloody scene he had seen.

Finally, he turned around slowly, fingers facing the Smashers, waiting nervously for the reaction of Master Hand. Somehow, they could read the anger Master Hand was emitting, despite he having no eyes, or face.

"Who did this?" Master Hand spoke in such a calm and quiet voice that the Smashers were starting to doubt that Master Hand could be angry at all. Had Ness' death not affected him?

"Once again, let me ask… "Who the hell did this?" He spoke with increasing volume and ferocity, and a few if the Smashers moved uncomfortably on their positions, dreading what was going to happen.

"Who… the... FUCK... DID THIS?!" Master Hand was roaring again. His wrath was so extreme that even the slightest noise made died down.

"Fantastic! Just fantastic!" he shouted, slamming himself against the wall. Dust from the ceiling rained down on him and the wall shook, damaged by the brutal impact. "I run a mansion for the sake of your little lives, letting you stay inside the most prestigious game and providing you with the best of the facilities and items which costs billions… and this is how you repay me?! A dead boy, inside his bed at the dead of the night!

"None of you are to go back until the murderer confesses right now!" Master Hand stopped his uproar and "glared" down at the Smashers, who were all fearfully staring up at the giant hand, not knowing what to do or say.

There was a torturing silence as no one anything. Then all of a sudden, Master Hand dropped down onto the ground, his entire body limp, letting out a snoring sound as he lied in front of the doorway.

'What the…" Sonic muttered. Everyone was surprised by Master Hand's sudden action, until Lucairo realized what had happened. 'He's fallen asleep,' he said, and the tension which had built up eased.

"Well…" Captain Falcon looked hard at the hand, making sure he was really asleep. "I suppose this means that we can all go back." Slowly, he walked backwards, uncertain if Master Hand was really asleep. When he didn't respond, Falcon quickly ran off into his dorm.

The others saw his retreats and some went back to their dorms as well, but a few remained to mourn the death of Ness. Lucas leaned against the wall, head buried in his arms. Mario placed a hand on his shoulder and said quietly, "Come, Lucas. You can sleep in my room tonight..."

"This is wrong," Ganondorf muttered as he stared at the retreating figures. The Ice Climbers were next to him and Nana whispered, "What's wrong?"

"Leaving Ness in there like that," Ganondorf replied. "It's sure to attract bacteria, and soon it'll be decomposing. If we don't remove it soon, we're going to live with a rotten stench for a week."

They watched Mario lead Lucas to his dorm. Mario looked into his room and shook his head. "Man, I can't believe Peach is still asleep. You'd think that all the noise would have awoken her."

Popo watched Mario shut his door after he and Lucas went in with burning red eyes. "How can they just go away like that?" he muttered angrily. "Aren't they affected by Ness' death?"

"They've been through many adventures, Popo," Ganondorf replied. "Adventures, filled with hardships and perils, and they have seen many deaths before their eyes. You two won't know; you're just children."

Nana was about to reply indigantly that she and Popo had gone through many dangerous ice-climbing adventures which threathened their lives, but Ganondorf silenced her by rasing his hand. He crept carefully around the sleeping hand and stood in front of the doorway, signalling to the Ice Climbers to follow him.

Popo's jaw dropped and looked at Ganondorf as if he was crazy. "Why?"

"Because," Ganondorf replied while looking into the room. "You two are going to help me remove the dead body."

0o0o0o

"Ness..." Yoshi muttered as he lied on his hard, wooden bed, staring up at the ceiling. He was the only one in the room, since he was the only character from the Yoshi's Island series; but the silence of being alone didn't help him to fall asleep. Nobody could, with the obvious exception being Peach. The woman could sleep through a hurricane and wake up to ask, "What's for breakfast?".

Up to now Yoshi thought the Smash Mansion was a pretty safe place to live in. The entrance was a high steel fence which would electrocute anyone who was not a Smasher, and high walls barricaded the entire mansion. There were many traps rigged in the front part of the mansion: Cages hidden in the ground that would sping up when stepped on; plants that would wrap their rubbery stems around the intruder's legs; pits covered with leaves; ropes which would hang the intruder upside down the moment he set his foot on it; and invisible laser beams which would alert Master Hand by letting off loud noise when any non-Smasher stepped into it.

In fact, judging by all the safety measures Master Hand took, Yoshi thought that getting into the mansion was an impossible task.

That only left the other groups of suspects: The insiders.

Yoshi shook his head to get rid of the suspicion. He had known the Smshers for a long time: None of them would seriously injure or kill their fellow Smashers, even during a battle.

But then, who did it? Who was the murderer, who could so cold-heartedly murder an innocent boy in his sleep? Yoshi racked his brains, trying to remember if he saw or heard anything suspicious recently...

All of a sudden, the realization his Yoshi with the impact equivalent to that of a brick. It was so strong he simply lied there, gaping, refusing to believe the fact that it was he himself who had brought the source of Ness' death to this mansion.

_The apple_.

0o0o0o

"Are you crazy?!" Popo screamed at Ganondorf. Nana flicked a nervous glance to Master Hand, but he was in too deep in his dream to hear him.

"Popo! Shut up!" she whispered.

"Yes, shut up," Ganondorf muttered. "We have to do this quietly as possible, without attracting the attention of anyone."

"Can't someone else help you?" Nana asked desperately. She looked around, only to see that the three of them were the only ones out on the corridor. At that instant Nana realized that everyone else was so shocked by the death that they had simply forgtten about the body. The only ones who could remove the body now was them, like it or not, or else Master Hand might make even more of a racket in the the day to come.

Unfortunately, Popo didn't. "It's insane!" he shouted. Inside the dorms some people were stopping their hushed conversations to listen to the shouts outside. Quickly, Nana cupped a hand over Popo's mouth and said gently, "Popo."

Popo's eyes were still wide open and he was breathing heavily, but he stopped shouting.

"I know it's going to be difficult and sick, especially for you, since you're not accustomed to see blood - but we have to do this. Don't you want to help Ness? If you died, would you want your dead body at the very spot where you were killed?"

"If I was dead, I wouldn't be able to think," Popo said bluntly.

"All the same. Besides, it would look even more disturbing if Ness started to rot."

Popo closed his eyes, shuddering at the thought of seeing a rotting body. Nana smiled a bit. "I know it's hard, but all of us have to do things we don't like sometime in our life. Those are the obstacles we have to get past. If we don't, then we won't be able to move on."

Popo remained still, his breathing slowly subsiding.

"Popo?"

He opened his eyes slowly and whispered, "OK, I'll do it. But I'm not going to carry him."


	5. Au Topsy Turvy

"Come quietly," Ganondorf growled under his breath as the floorboard Popo stepped on creaked. He glared at Ganondorf and said angrily, "You know, I can just quit anytime I want. I don't have to do this."

"Fine. Go ahead. Prove that you're the scaredy-cat you already are."

Popo almost stomped his foot on the ground, but Nana grabbed his arm and whispered, "Ignore him. The faster we get this done, the faster we can get out of here."

Slowly, they crept around the Master Hand and reached the doorway, standing alongside Ganondorf. Ganondorf looked left and right, making sure that no one was looking. He took a deep breath - even the evil warlock was a bit afraid to enter a room with a dead boy - and walked in.

The metallic smell had long faded away, but now there was a wave of an unpleasant odor, something Popo and Nana had never smelled before. Ganondorf looked to the top of the bunk bed. Ness' corpse was still lying there, head atop right shoulder. His left arm was resting on his stomach, and the right was dangling over a side. His mouth was still wide open, but blood no longer flowed out. The whites of the eyes stared into Ganondorf's face, and for a while he felt a tinge of fear inside him.

Nana crept slowly over to Ganondorf, averting her eyes away from the bed. Popo stayed at the doorway, breathing heavily, nervous about entering a room that had his dead friend inside it. Nana turned around and signaled for Popo to follow. Popo closed his eyes and shook his head, too afraid to take a step.

"Come on, Popo," Nana whispered as she walked back. She grabbed him gently by his arm, and slowly pulled him forward. Popo's breathing grew heavier and he tried to wriggle away, but Nana held on firmly.

"Don't give up now." She handed him a brown paper bag from her parka pocket. Popo took it with both hands and brought it up to his mouth, inflating and deflating it as he breathed deeply.

Gradually, his heavy breathing subsided, and Popo lowered the paper bag. For a while, he stared into the dark room where Ganondorf was waiting. He muttered, "Are you two coming or what?"

"We're - we're coming," Popo whispered fearfully but with determination.

Ganondorf didn't wait a single second. The moment the words uttered out of Popo's mouth, he quickly walked up the bunk bed and looked at the dead body on the blanket.

The way Ness' arms were bent signified that there was a struggle. The cloth near his chest area had five, irregular holes in them, and looked as if someone had poked his sharp fingers through it. Blood continuously flowed out from there, staining the whole chest area maroon red.

Ness' mouth seemed to be bigger than usual. It couldn't be because he was screaming when he died - it was wider than even that, and it wouldn't explain why there had been blood pouring out of his mouth. It looked as if something wide had been stuffed down his mouth, strecthing the jaw in the process.

Ganondorf winced a bit before turning over Ness, and his suspicion was proved true: There was a hole at the back of his neck, with tiny walls of ripped skin surrounding it. On the wall behind the bed there was a small dot of blood, indicating that the point of the object had jabbed into the wall after impaling Ness' neck.

Ganondorf closed his eyes and imagined the scene. Someone or something had apporached Ness sneakily in the dead of the night. He had sunk his claw into Ness' flesh and gripped a sharp object above his head. When Ness started screaming, he had brought it down in a particular angle and with a force that traveled down all the way to Ness' larynx and through the windpipe...

Ganondorf shuddered. Ness would have either died of breathing difficulties or blood loss, and both were painful ways to die.

Throughout his entire observations, the Ice Climbers had watched him touch and turn over Ness. Popo whispered to Nana, "What is he doing?"

"It's something like an autopsy, except that it doesn't require cutting up of the body," she told him.

Once the warlock was done, he placed both arms on Ness' back and lifted him up gently. Ness' head quickly rolled off his shoulder and hung in the air, and the empty eyes looked straight at Popo, and the wide mouth made it seem as if he was gaping at him. Popo shrieked and buried his face into his parka, shocked at the sight of his dead friend.

"Will you two stop staring and help me?" Ganondorf said as he landed on the floor. Nana hesitated before walking forward and grabbing Ness' feet. Ganondorf slowly shifted his arms to Ness' head, and grabbed it tightly to prevent it from rolling around. Popo looked away and stared at the wall, his breathing getting heavier again. Ganondorf looked at him and shook his head. "That boy," he told Nana, "is only strong enough for ice."

"Give him a rest," Nana told him angrily. "It's his first time seeing a gruesome dead body."

"Well, it's your first time seeing a dead body too, and you're not freaking out."

"I just possess more control, that's all. It's not like I'm much more macho and brave."

They walked on in silence, making sure not to step on Master Hand as they walked out. Nana actually had to carry the legs above her head, to keep the body in line with the much higher Ganondorf.

"Okay, the body is now out. Where do we carry him?" Nana asked quietly.

"Inside the Frost Room. If we don't place it somewhere freezing cold, he - it's going to start decomposing."

Nana winced. The Frost Room was a particular place in the mansion that actually had snow blowing inside it. How it was made no one knew, but many Smashers went there to cool down, or simply play. To the Ice Climbers, it was a place to go to remember the good old times when they were really young and played witrh each other in the snow, before they went on their ice climbing journeys and some time after, lived in the Smash Mansion. To place her dead friend inside the nostalgic room was not a very appealing thought.

As they turned a corner, Popo ran up to them and skidded to a halt next to Nana. Without a word, he quickly helped Nana grip the legs and walked on with them. Ganondorf turned his head to see what was happening and Nana stared at him back, as if to say, 'See?' Ganondorf rolled his eyes and continued walking.

The rest of the journey continued in silence. Because it was still in dawn, the lighting system was turned off, and they were walking in pitch blackness. The worst part was that the Frost Room was far away from the corridor where all the dorms were, so they had to hold Ness for a long time in the uncomforting dark.

When they finally reached the metallic door to the room, Ganondorf held Ness' head with one hand and placed the other on the knob. The door, as usual, it was stuck to the side with ice, and he had to push it hard just to get it open.

A chilly wind blew across their faces as the white snow greeted them with bright light. They quickly walked in and set the body on a bench at the side of the wall. The moment they did, Popo quickly removed his hands and shuddered.

Ganondorf gave one final look at the corpse before turning around. "We're done, for now."

0o0o0o

There was one other Smasher sneaking around in the dead of dawn. Yoshi walked through the corridor that lead to the right side of the mansion, which had the kitchen inside it. His plan in mind was to investigate the contents of the fridge, where he had last placed the apple.

The apple. Yoshi felt a sick and twisting feeling inside his stomach as he continued walking through the darkness. If what he suspected was true, then the apple was the root of all evil that had caused the first death in the history of the Super Smash Bros. series. And it was he, Yoshi, who had introduced it to the calm and tranquil mansion...

Yoshi shuddered, before walking straight into the door. He had arrived. There was no use being quiet; no one was near the dining room. He opened the door, not caring about the creaking hinges as he walked towards the fridge. The window to the kitchen was open, and outside a cricket was chirping.

He opened the door and was greeted by a horrifying site: The things he had used to cover up the apple were all out of place, as if someone had dug through them to find a certain something. Weakly, he lifted an arm and shifted through some bags. He found no apple, and his the knot in his stomach tightened. The apple had been eaten. He didn't know what it caused the consumer to do, whether it made him evil or get possessed or develop a love for murdering, but didn't care. In his mind he could only think of one thought: _He was the one who had brought Ness' death to the mansion_.

All of a sudden, there was a creaking of floorboards behind him. He shut the door immediately and whipped around, panicking. There was another creak as whoever was coming approached nearer. Yoshi's mind could only think of one thing: _The killer_.

With a flash, he ran behind a counter and ducked, producing an egg as he did. He held the egg in his right hand and looked back. The door creaked open slightly more as Yoshi saw a pair of eyes glowing blue in the dark.

There was a hurricane of butterflies in his stomach as he tightened his grip on the egg. The figure turned towards his direction, and Yoshi held his breath. With each step the figure grew nearer, and another floorboard creaked.

Somewhere outside, the cricket stopped its chirping, as if it too was holding its breath. A wind blew, shaking the branches of trees and rattling the leaves.

_Creeeeaaaaaaak_. Now the figure was standing next to Yoshi, its furry leg tickling Yoshi's nose.

But he didn't approach the counter. Instead he walked towards the fridge. Without thinking, Yoshi threw his egg, aiming directly at the head. At the same time, the fridge door opened, bathing the room in light, and Yoshi realized who the figure was.

"Lucairo?" The Pokemon turned around, and was smacked in the face by the egg. He cursed and wiped the pieces off his muzzle while glaring at the dinosaur.

'What the hell was that for?' he sputtered.

"Uh... nothing!" Yoshi bounced up and grinned nervously and apologetically. "I just thought you - well, you were the one who..."

He stopped. He was about to say 'you were the one who muredered Ness after eating the apple', but if he did say that, Lucairo would ask all sorts of uncomfortable questions and get him into trouble with Master Hand. As long as possible, Yoshi had to keep the apple thing to himself.

'Why were you crouching behind the counter?! And why did you hit me with an egg? What are you trying to do, kill me?'

"It's nothing! I just came here to get a glass of water!"

'Oh? Then why were you nowhere near the fridge? Answer me!" Lucairo's glare was so penetrating that Yoshi felt like reducing to dust, and wished that he had not acted so rebelliously the day before at the shopping mall. This only doubled the grudge Lucairo held against him.

Lucairo narrowed his eyes. 'I'm watching you,' he whispered menacingly, and proceeded to take out a pitcher of water from the fridge, which he poured into a bowl. He lapped up the water, all the while staring at Yoshi who stood nervously next to him, and when he was done he dumped the bowl inside the sink and walked out of the kitchen. When he reached the door he turned around and stared suspiciously at him before walking off and disappearing in the dark.

Yoshi's leg felt weak as he tried to walk. He breathed a sigh of relief; for a moment there he thought Lucairo was going to mash him to a pulp.

Then he realized something that turned him inside out.

The way he had said that he was watching him. The way he had stared at him when he reached the door. And when he had asked, 'What are you trying do, kill me?'

He, Yoshi, was on the number one suspect list of murdering Ness in Lucairo's mind.

0o0o0o

The Smashers waited, agonizingly, for day. When the sun was finally high in the sky, everyone walked out of their dorms and silently made their way to the bathroom, like their normal routine. Nobody, with the exception of Peach, had slept, but none of them were sleepy, being too shocked by Ness' death.

While waiting for everyone to finish showering and brushing their teeth and do their businesses, Mario whispered what happened last night. Peach recoiled in horror when she heard of how bloody the bed looked when Mario had looked inside the room, and was outraged by the fact that such a young boy could be murdered so cold-heartedly.

"So who did it?" growled the angry Peach. "I'd like to give him a piece of my mind!"

"No one knows. If I'm not wrong, the body is still in the bed." Mario pointed to Earthbound door. Ganondorf had slammed it shut after he and the Ice Climebers had transported the body into the Frost Room, so no one could see the state of the room.

"So what about the body? What are we going to do about it?"

"I dunno. We'll just have to wait for Master Hand to decide."

Master Hand had disappeared from where he slept last night, and no one knew where he was or what he was doing.

After everyone was done, they proceeded to the dining room. There they sat in silence. Normally Peach or Zelda would have prepared breakfast by now, but today it was Zelda's turn to cook and Peach had slept in. Zelda had forgotten about preparing breakfast and as a result everyone was left with empty but uncomplaining stomachs.

Master Hand floated through the door and stared at all of them. He sighed and said in a loud and booming voice, "I trust that all of you know about the incident of Ness' death, and that you each know that I am very, very angry - though I may not show it right now. Though I do mourn for Ness, now is not the time." All the Smashers nodded, and Lucas broke into tears.

Master Hand ignored him and continued, "I will ask, one more time, for the murderer to reveal himself. If he does so now, I shall spare him for the sin he has done." There was a pause as everyone waited for nothing. When no one stood up, Master Hand said, "Very well. It seems as if, despite my kind offer, you still do not want to confess." His voice shook with anger. "This is not tolerated in the Smash Mansion. We cannot let innocent Smashers because a heartless one is within us.

"I will need Ganondorf and - ah - a volunteer to stand, please." Master Hand once again waited as the Smashers looked uneasily at each other. Why did Master Hand need a volunteer for? The way he had said 'ah' made it seem as if whoever chose to stand was going to do something he wasn't going to like. Was Master Hand going to, unreasonably, accuse that Smasher of the murder and execute him? And why had Master Hand chosen Ganondorf when he hadn't volunteered his service?

There was another long pause as everyone waited for someone to stand along with Ganondorf. But no one was ready to volunteer his or her service to anything that had to with death.

Finally, Lucairo stood up and announced in everyones' head, 'I will go.' He looked nervous but confident.

Master Hand "nodded" and said, "Very well. Ganondorf and Lucario, please follow me into my office."

The two of them dispersed from the crowd and started to follow Master Hand out. Before he did, Lucairo shot a suspicious glance to Yoshi before rounding a corner.

There was an uncomfortable silence among the three of them as they walked up to Master Hand's office, which was at the highest floor of the masion. Lucairo wondered what was going to happen. Why did Master Hand choose Ganondorf automatically without a reason? Lucairo looked at Ganondorf's face, but he was keeping a straight and unfathomable one.

When they finally arrived, Master Hand faced the wall turned around to face them.

"Do you know why you're here, Lucairo?" He shook his head.

"Ganondorf tells me last night that before he and the Ice Climbers had removed Ness' corpse from his dorm where he would decompose, he had performed an autopsy on Ness, observing and analyzing every details that was on and within Ness to know as much information about the murderer. I was surprised by his bravery and skill in deaths."

'So... why do you want me here?' Lucairo asked, though now he had pretty much guessed.

"It's simple. Performing an autopsy is not a one-man job. In order to carry out an autopsy efficiently, there must always be two people, so that they can save time, spot details better and help each other in areas of skill where they lack, such as cutting up a body part."

'So... you want me to become someone who performs an autopsy?' Lucairo asked weakly.

"Yes... with Ganondorf here. I know it will be hard to face a dead body. But sometimes you have to abandon all sense of value, even when you're horribly disfiguring the body during the autopsy, in order to find out about the murderer, the way he kills, and to stop future deaths from happening."

'Is that all? Someone who performs an autopsy with a fellow Smasher?'

"Unfortuneatly, no. The two of you will also be investigating the incidents and identify the murderer with the knowledge you have acquired from the autopsies and with reasonable guessing and thinking. Both you are clever and possess great wits. If all goes well, we should be able to catch the murderer in a week."

'But... there might be no future deaths.'

"Ah, but there will. You can always tell these kind of things. But that's not important. Lucairo, will you, as a Smasher of this mansion, be accepting the role as pathologist and a murder detective, along with Ganondorf here, so as to prevent future deaths and protect your fellow Smashers from the murderer who brings great harm?"

Lucairo looked down to the floor, thinking hard, heart slamming against his ribcage. The expectations seemed too great for him.

Ganondorf, who had been silent all along, muttered, "Come on, Lucairo."

"Lucairo, I know you can do it. You're one of the best Smashers here," Master Hand whispered.

Lucairo looked up with a look of determination on his face. 'I'll do it.' His voice was weak, but then strengthened as he repeated what he said. 'I'll do it. I'll help to track down the murderer and perform autopsies for the benefits of the other innocent Smashers here.'


End file.
